Utopies entomologiques II – Raphaël Emine, 2024

This architectural wonder provides nesting sites for insects in the heart of the Hortillonnages ecosystem in Amiens. Made from traditional ceramic combined with ceramic 3D printing, it is designed as an environment for insects but also for living plants, decomposing plants and reserves of water.

Entomological Utopias II reflects on biology and life, it is driven by dreamlike inspirations at the crossroads of natural sciences, sculpture and design. This sculpture raises the possibility of an inter-species architecture that is inclusive of non-humans by connecting different living things that occupy the same space. A kind of functional habitat sculpture designed in a surrealist way with galleries, tunnels, corridors and balconies.

Using the latest 3D modelling experiments, these sculptures are inspired by biomimicry and mathematical models created by living things. The resulting forms evoke worlds that cannot be placed between vernacular habitat, fantastic architecture, the underwater world, the foliage of the tree and the rhizome. They aim to accommodate several species of living things at different stages of their life cycles, from the egg to the larva, to the adult.